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INDIA, what do Indians think of this movie

posted 13 years ago by richardw-14
88 replies | jump to latest

First let me say I spent 3 weeks in the southeastern part of India in 2006. I was not a tourist, but rather a traveler. I loved the people and the country. But I saw much poverty and a general lack of action by the government.

As for the movie, I was wondering what native Indians thought about the movie.

--It shows a person being tortured by the police
--It shows the police looking the other way as muslims were being murdered
--It shows a country covered in filth and trash (I did see alot of this)
--It shows a general sense of uncaring ruthless men preying on children. (in this country, that kind of thing in done in secret, but in the movie, it was common and out in the open) BTW, secret doesn't mean better
--It shows violent Hindus against fellow Indian muslims (I'm not a muslim)

And alot of other items that seem to put India in a poor light.

What do you think?

[–] 13 years ago

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[–] ravikant21490 13 years ago

First of all, I don't really love this film at all. That being said, the reasons I do not like this film have nothing to do with the portrayal of India in the film, but it is more concerned with the film itself, the story of it. The film is not really putting India 'in a poor light'. It's not using poverty as a selling-point. What they have shown, it is what happens for real. Except for the Hindus against Muslims, because it may have happened long back but it does not happen now. I think the other nominees of the Oscar were much better than this film, I was hoping that The Wrestler win the Oscar but that did not happen. Actually, the winning of this film killed the credibility of the Oscars for me.

[–] rooprect 13 years ago

I'm not Indian, but I lived there for a year & have Indian friends. Across the board they didn't care for this movie. They didn't necessarily hate it, but they didn't think it was anything special, either. I think they were being polite.

Police corruption: Rampant corruption does exist, particularly with the police department & municipal authorities, but it's more "administrative corruption", like if you want a permit for something, you need to bribe someone. If you want anything done fast, you have to bribe someone. They expect bribes the way waiters expect tips in the USA. But I've never seen any police corruption on a felony level (like ignoring a murder).

Filth & trash: yes. In Mumbai you cannot stroll from one end of the beach to the other without encountering someone taking a dump. But there are also very nice, clean parts of the city. And there are downright heavenly regions out in the country.

Hindu on Muslim violence (and vice versa): I've never seen it, and nobody talks about it but I suspect it exists. But again, it's no different from a gang war in an American city where Hispanics may kill Italians or whatever. I will say, though, that Indians have a horrible propensity to riot whenever things get really bad. And when riots break out, everyone kills everyone.

Uncaring ruthless men preying on children: didn't notice anything, but that's not to say it doesn't exist.

I think in general the film exaggerated the negative aspects of India. It went for shock value (killings, prostitution, etc), whereas in my opinion the real problems of Indian society are more covert & insidious. Even though I never witnessed outright violence, I noticed a lot of bigotry, intolerance & selfishness which can be just as demoralizing to a culture as filth & squalor. But I don't suppose you can make a successful movie about that.

[–] john_lennon 13 years ago

Tourist/traveller what is the difference?

[–] lizwick 13 years ago

A tourist is someone who thinks about going home the moment they arrive.
Whereas a traveler might not come back at all.

I am Haru, of the Takagure dojo.

[–] 13 years ago

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[–] throw99 12 years ago

From "The Sheltering Sky," I assume.

[–] itisjitu 13 years ago

I loved this movie.

Next question...

[–] simian_ninja 13 years ago

I liked it, but the way a lot of people in the West got the notion that this film represented this as the 'reality' of India somewhat got to me. It's like me saying America is terrible because everybody in America is fat, racist, sexist, gun totting freaks - which is all BS.

"--It shows a person being tortured by the police."

And it does happen, but from what I've heard the Phillipines is worse in this regard. But to deny that police use their own personal power for gain is a big denial.

"--It shows the police looking the other way as muslims were being murdered."

I'm not so sure about this as I have not read too much about this subject matter. The police in India will turn their head to anything as long as their is a pay off (I'm not saying all the police there are like this).

"--It shows a country covered in filth and trash (I did see alot of this)."

And it would be silly to deny that the cities are like this. But like I've said before, if you really want to see a country - go to the countryside and not the city. But yeah, I'm from Mumbai and I totally know what you're talking about in regards to the trash and the filth. But there is a growing movement that is trying to do away with the filth and pollution.

"--It shows a general sense of uncaring ruthless men preying on children. (in this country, that kind of thing in done in secret, but in the movie, it was common and out in the open) BTW, secret doesn't mean better."

This is common all across Asia. You have no idea how many paedophiles from overseas (ie the West) go to Asia just for the children. Gary Glitter being the most famous example. But children being sold into the sex slave industry is alive in India as well.

"--It shows violent Hindus against fellow Indian muslims (I'm not a muslim)"

It does happen. Indians against Indians beause of religion.
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[–] devrishabh 13 years ago

I didn't like the movie much.. not because it offends me as an Indian, but because we see it everyday on the streets. And the whole "explanation-to-his-answers" thing wasn't very amusing. Though the idea was brilliant. It could've been a lot better.

[–] anonymous_person 13 years ago

visually, this movie portrays india pretty accurately. as far as the characters are concerned, it portrays pretty much every slum-dwelling indian adult as being a soulless, selfish, predatory *beep* and the only "positive" adults the children in the movie come across are western tourists.

basically, this movie portrays india about as accurately as menace ii society portrays america.

[–] 13 years ago

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